Quick World Series Five-Game Recap and Revised Prediction

I need not recap the past five games too much, since TV ratings, as expected, have been extraordinary.

I think any baseball fan (not of the Yankees, I suppose) is happy we’ll see a World Series Game Six for the first time since 2003, due primarily to AJ Burnett’s ineffectiveness on three days rest, and of course, the magical bat of one Chase Utley.

I picked the Phillies in five, especially after they split in New York, and was wrong.

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Rockies-Phillies NLDS Preview, Pitching Matchups, and TV Schedule

This series presents a 2007 rematch the Phils would like to forget.

In an intriguing matchup of the last two NL pennant winners, many believe Colorado is the favorite in this series again, but seriously, the Phils are the defending champs, winners of 93 games, with a stacked lineup as good as any in baseball, and due to their huge attendance this year, the gross/money to rent proven hurlers like Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez to make a run at a repeat.

(Yes, Philly fans will angrily attack me for this as you did before, but you guys are nearly as “guilty” as the Yanks or Red Sox of acquiring key free agents to put you over the top — see Lidge, Brad in 2008, Ibanez, Raul this season as well as Werth, Jayson; Lee, Cliff; Martinez, Pedro, etc.)

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World Series Rematch: Breaking down the Phillies-Rays series

Even if you don’t bet on MLB odds, you have to be excited to watch the Phillies and Rays duke it out this week.

Each team has endured a bumpy road since they met in the 2008 World Series and, while the Rays are climbing toward the top of the AL East, the Phillies’ grasp on the NL East is tenuous. What will happen this week at Tropicana field?

Let’s make some MLB predictions.

Tuesday, June 23, 7:08 p.m. ET
Jamie Moyer (4-6, 6.35) vs David Price (1-1, 3.46)
MLB betting lines: Phillies +155, Rays -175

Is it swan song time for Jamie Moyer? It’s been an amazing run, but he may finally be out of gas, as his 6.35 ERA suggests. However, I have a feeling he helps bust the Phillies out of their six-game skid tonight. He has a somewhat useful 5.40 ERA on the road – good enough with the Phillies bats behind you – and he handled the Rays in the deciding game of the World Series. In fact, he held Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena hitless.

David Price is a special pitcher, so it’s understandable that sportsbooks favor the Rays. However, while many fans love his 30 strikeouts in 26 innings, it’s easy to forget his 18 walks during that time span. That’s simply too high for a major league pitcher, and the Phillies will punish him if he doesn’t hit the plate.

Pick: Phillies

Wednesday, June 24, 7:08 p.m. ET
Joe Blanton (4-3, 5.28) vs Matt Garza (4-5, 3.83)
MLB betting lines: Phillies +145, Rays -165

Time for Tampa to strike back. The Rays have to feel confident sending promising youngster Matt Garza to the hill against the Phillies. He’s quickly establishing himself as a big-game pitcher, having allowed just seven earned runs in 33.2 innings in five starts against the Yankees and Red Sox. Joe Blanton must have nightmares about Tropicana field, as he has a 7.64 ERA there. Carlos Pena has sweet dreams about facing Blanton, hitting .571 off the portly hurler. You have to give the edge to the Rays here.

Pick: Rays

Thursday June 25, 7:08 p.m. ET
Antonio Bastardo (2-2, 5.21) vs Andy Sonnanstine (5-7, 6.60)
MLB betting lines: Not posted yet

Oh, boy. Looks like the home run derby starts early this year. Andy Sonnanstine has been a special kind of bad in 2009 – the kind that usually earns you a ticket to Class-AAA. He’s allowed at least one homer in eight straight starts and 14 in total over that span. Is there any way he can handle a prolific power-hitting team like Philly?

Antonio Bastardo has taken his lumps (though I assume his jersey sales remain strong – what’s the price per head on those at Citizens Bank Park?), but only at home. He’s 2-0 with a 2.45 road ERA in his young career and is a good bet to survive on Thursday.

Pick: Phillies

Raul Ibanez Hits Game-Winning Homer in 10th to Lift Phillies Past “Choke Artist” Mets

Remember how many observers, including me, acknowledged recently that Raul Ibanez’s blistering pace to start the 2009 season with was beginning to slow? Well don’t tell that to Raul Ibanez, because he’ll smack a three-run homer on you in the 10th inning to prove that he is not cooling off at all.

And that is exactly what Ibanez did tonight, giving the Phillies a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets.

Ibanez went 1-5 with his lone hit, his 21st home run of the season, driving in the winning run plus two extra, giving him 58 RBIs on the season. The hit also extended Ibanez’s current hitting streak to 11 games. Ibanez’s homer also allowed the Phillies to extend their lead in the NL East to four games over the Mets, who lent credence to Cole Hamels’ recent statements that the Mets are choke artists.

(Oh, and because I’m unnecessarily obsessed with my fantasy baseball team for anyone interested, Ibanez led an offensive explosion by my fantasy team tonight, putting me ahead for the week in my current matchup.)

Well done Raul. Despite the oft-perpetrated perception that I’m a hater, I have been and will continue to be in your corner, rooting for your success to continue despite my indefatigable doubts about MLB as a whole. There is nothing you nor any Major League Baseball player can do right now to have my total trust in your accomplishments, except to keep putting up great numbers, be transparent about your testing, steadfast and upfront in your denials of any and all speculation, and never fail a test. And that is what I hope happens.

Because then, like with any process of rebuilding lost trust, it’s just a matter of time. And while that clock has begun, but the long hand still trails the short one by a little too wide a margin — for me at least.

But nothing would make me happier than for the entire situation of the past week to somehow lead to Raul Ibanez being the poster child for fans regaining trust in baseball players. Sure, it’s speculative to assume that he could be that guy, but no more or less speculative than my optimistic initial hypothesis or my speculative non-conclusion conclusion from Monday.

Because here’s one nice thing about speculation: it can cut both ways. And for whatever reason, probably just sheer exhaustion at dwelling on so many negative aspects of baseball — a game I love — this past week, I’m in the mood to be as positive and upbeat as I can be.

And though that evil little whisper of skepticism mercilessly refuses to purge itself from my ear, I’m still going to fight to be optimistic. And I’m still going to root for Raul Ibanez, as I have been all along, to someday prove to be one of the explicit justifications for that optimism and a foundational test case upon which that optimism can endure.

* – Photo Courtesy: Kevin’s Blog

World Series Game 5 Postponed | Rays-Phillies to Resume Wednesday Night

(Stay up to date with latest news on the World Series schedule at http://www.worldseries.com.)

Game 5 of the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies was suspended due to rain in Philadelphia before the bottom half of the 6th inning began.

The game is currently scheduled to resume Tuesday night at 8:00 and according to Commissioner Bud Selig will not be moved to Tampa Bay under any circumstances. Furthermore, regardless of what day the game is ultimately played, it will begin at 8:00 ET.

Tomorrow’s scheduled start time is obviously contingent on the weather. Click here to stay up to date on the latest Philadelphia area weather forecast. As of right now, according to the hour-by-hour forecast, it looks like rain is expected for tomorrow night as well. The 10-day forecast shows sunshine on Thursday. … Continue Reading

Phillies-Rays World Series Game 4 Preview | Philadelphia Weather Update

Click here for the latest updates on the suspended Game 5

Last night, after an hour and a half rain delay, the Philadelphia Phillies took advantage of the Tampa Bay Rays’ late-inning pitching mistakes to claim victory in Game 3 that ended at 1:47 am. The Phillies took a 2-1 advantage in the World Series. According to the SI.com account of the game, the Rays were also treated to the typically brotherly warm chilly reception given to visitors from the notorious Philadelphia fans.

Game 4 is scheduled for tonight, and the NFL does not have a Sunday Night Football game scheduled to accommodate the World Series. According to Weather.com, the projected forecast around Citizens Bank Park is clear for the entire evening. So the game should start on time, giving more people a chance to watch the finish, which many fans (including me), were not able to stay up and do last night.

The pitching matchup for tonight’s World Series Game 4, scheduled to begin at 8:00 on Fox, is as follows:

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World Series | Tampa Bay Rays – Philadelphia Phillies | TV Schedule – Pitching

Click here for the latest updates on the suspended Game 5

No, neither of the Chicago teams that we were rooting for here at Midwest Sports Fans made the World Series. But still, as baseball fans, most of us will be taking an interest in the World Series.

I think that Boston-LA would have made for, at least on paper, better storylines and drama; but a Tampa Bay-Philadelphia World Series definitely features two exciting teams with great young players, and it features the best and most positive story in Major League Baseball since all the steroids madness started: the improbable run of the young, perennially down-trodden Tampa Bay Rays to the World Series.

The World Series follows the 2-3-2 format at all of the games are, of course, televised on Fox (Joe Buck! Tim McCarver!) and while MLB.com currently lists the Rays’ pitching rotation as TBD (as of this posting), ESPN.com at least made an educated guess. You may want to check these on a daily basis though, as the Rays getting stretched to 7 games by the Red Sox may necessitate Joe Maddon switching things up a bit.

Here is the schedule:

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